PHILADELPHIA ­— Anybody who says the Sixers’ spirits are down clearly hasn’t seen Spencer Hawes riding a Segway.

There’s no denying that losses breed disappointment and, in the first half of their season, the Sixers have experienced their share of both. However, Sixers coach Doug Collins said it’s not in his team’s best interests to wave a white flag and curl into the fetal position.

Not with their next eight at home giving a chance at a turnaround. Not with the division-leading New York Knicks in town Saturday night.

“We’ve just got to put together 48 minutes,” Collins said Friday, following the team’s practice at PCOM. “I think we’ve played some good stretches. I think our guys are engaged. They’ve been alert in practice. We’ve had two very good practices. Our energy is good. Our spirit is good. I think anybody who would think different of that would be wrong.

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“Our guys continue to fight. We’ve just got to taste winning.”

The Sixers (17-25) didn’t look the part of a team that has lost 19 of 26 games and is (still) missing its star center. They were smiling, goofing around at practice. They joked around with point guard Jrue Holiday, who a night earlier was named a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

Afterward, Hawes even rolled onto the hardwood on a Segway. Fun stuff, but winning is fun, too.

“I want to win — hands down,” Holiday said. “I love to win. The time is now. We do have to do it now, especially before the all-star break where we have a couple weeks left and get some momentum going into that. I remember last year, maybe we were in Houston and we put a little streak together. From there, everything came together and we made the playoffs and did what we did. We need to make a push now.”

Their ambitions are pure, though the obstacle before the Sixers is rigorous.

Four of those eight straight home games are against winning teams, including the Knicks, who expect to have point guard Raymond Felton back from a broken finger that’s sidelined him since Christmas. The second-highest-scoring team in the East, the Knicks are averaging 101 points per game, which is right around the 102 per-game average the Sixers have allowed their last 10 times out.

“Look, Boston is 20-22. The difference in records is they had a six-game winning streak, and we have had a one-game winning streak since Nov. 30,” Collins said. “At some point in time, if you’re going to start fighting for that spot — and it might not be Boston, but they’re the team right now that’s (directly) in front of you — you’ve got to start winning some games and putting some together.

“It doesn’t have to be five in a row, but can you get four out of six? Can you start building toward something? And we haven’t done that since our 10-6 start.”

Before firing up the Segway, Hawes ran with the starters for the second straight day of practice. His renewed play, coupled with the lackluster showings from Lavoy Allen, could lead to Hawes’ first start of the season.

“We’ll see tomorrow,” Hawes said. “My lips are sealed.”

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Seems like every day Andrew Bynum is ramping up his rehab.

On this day, the recovering center was well removed from the stationary shooting drills of a week ago. Bynum was taking passes in the chest from 10 feet and working on one-dribble, turnaround shots in the paint.

Watching Bynum work out, Holiday said he couldn’t help but think how differently the first half of his season would’ve been had Bynum not missed it with bilateral knee bone bruises.

“Maybe my assists would’ve went up and my scoring would’ve went down,” Holiday said. “He attracts so much attention inside, offensively and defensively. He’s, like, eight feet tall. It’s not like you can take your eyes off of him.”

•••

Jason Richardson expects to miss Saturday night’s game, his third in a row, with a nagging left knee injury.

The shooting guard, who ruled himself unavailable, said he first started feeling pain Jan. 12 against Houston but tried to “fight through it.” While the swelling is down, he said he still feels pain.

“Me being out there now would hurt the team more than help it because I can’t run, can’t get my leg to turn over,” Richardson said. “Maybe it’s best for me to sit down. I think they ruled me out. Just trying to get it healthy. Doesn’t make sense for me to go at 40, 50 percent.”

Like Richardson, Nick Young was a non-participant in practice. Collins said Young’s “hip was sore.”